Posts Tagged ‘france’

My experiences with Paris in the past have not been the greatest. I always have problems, either with the hotel or flight or weather or everything! But with a positive attitude and outlook, I was set to go back to Paris this month for the Team Poker Cup at the Cercle Gaillon. This competition will happen between poker rooms and poker communities, each represented by three members, composed both by pros and amateurs.

As one of the rooms authorized by the authorities in France, Chilipoker will take part into this competition, represented by two professional players, and one amateur.

It didn’t start out that way, though. Haha. 😉 I left Las Vegas on March 10th, and there were no problems with the flight. I also checked only one bag, so that was going to make things easier, or so I thought! I got off the plane, got my bag from baggage claim, and suddenly the airport security guys stop me and start asking questions. (Did I look like a terrorist? I didn’t think so!) When they asked me what I do for a living and I said that I was a professional poker player, that was it, they took me into a back room. They searched through all my bags, every single corner and edge of every bag, even running the bags – open with all of my belongings right there – through a scanner. Then he got to my computer bag and started to open the side zipped pocket, I was so annoyed that I said to him “stop!” Don’t open it, there’s sex tapes in there. (joking of course) Haha. 😛 I noticed the officer’s eyes suddenly lit up … Hmm I wonder why?

They still asked me questions, though. They wanted to know how much cash I had with me, so I told them about $7500 in USD and British Pounds. They counted everything and found some Euros and asked why I didn’t mention the Euros. I just told them I forgot, which was true. I was really irritated by the whole process, after about an hour they finally let me go.

I took a cab from the airport to my hotel, and the driver was acting a little strange. He kept trying to tell me to put my computer bag on the floor, but I didn’t want to put it there. He seemed really annoyed with me, and it wasn’t until I was on my way back to the airport at the end of my trip that I figure out why. That second cab driver explained to me that theft is big in Paris, and the cab drivers try to protect their fares by telling them to keep their luggage in a certain place. Oops! I wish my first driver had told me that! Even so, though, he was a little pissy, especially when I didn’t have the exact change for my ride. Oh well, I went into the hotel, and my room wasn’t ready so I had to wait. But when I did get my room, it was upgraded very nicely!

The next day was the tournament, and there were 20 teams of 3 people each for a total field of 60 people. It was a great event, actually! The team poker concept is a little different to me, but I had a lot fun with my Chilipoker.fr teammates Xavier Niel, CEO of Iliad, and Lionel Rozenberg. I was seated at the featured table for part of the day, which should be shown on European television when it airs on April 1st.

(Liz Lieu with Xavier Niel)

Everyone played pretty well, even the amateurs, but that meant that I didn’t get a ton of action. There was nothing I could do, it seemed, to get calls or raises when I had hands. For example, I had K-8 of diamonds in my blind, and when the UTG players raised 2x, I called. The flop of Q-8-3 gave me a pair, but we both checked. The 5 on the turn was a blank, so I checked hoping for him to bet so I could check-raise, but he checked. The Q came on the river, and I checked again hoping for a raise opportunity, but he just checked to me! I won it with my two pair but it was a pretty small pot.

I was on a table with a few French players who loved to gamble. Two of them were running good and really on a heater, and it seemed like they couldn’t lose. So I knew to stay out of their way. On one hand, player in seat 8 moved all-in for 2800 chips, I picked up AK and decided to call. The player to my left, who had a ton of chips, puts me all-in! I mucked because I knew how he was running, and he showed A-Q. The all-in player had pocket fives. The board was A-7-3-Q-2, and that would’ve put me out of the tournament, so I’m glad I trusted my read.

By the dinner break, Xavier was out, both Lionel and I were still in, both of us had about 10k left in chips . I went to dinner with Alex, Xavier, Lionel, Antoine Arnault and his sister Delphine. We had a lovely dinner and talked about everything from poker to shoes to fashion to handbags. It was a very nice distraction, and I’m always willing to talk about those topics! But then it was back to poker, and I ended up shoving the last of my stack 15 minutes after we returned with pocket nines, but my opponent had pocket aces. And that was the end of my tournament! It was a great time, though, and I was glad to be a part of it.

The weather in Paris was not pretty. It rained almost every day that I was there, but I still got out to see some of the sights in Paris. How could I pass up that chance?! I went to the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and the Arc de Triomphe. I also did a little shopping along the Champs-Elysees and a famous outdoor mall that I can’t remember the name of! I packed a lot of sight-seeing and shopping into those couple of days I had left of my trip, but if it wasn’t raining so much, I would have liked to have seen more of the city, walked along the Seine, and more. But I did what I could, enjoyed Paris in a way I hadn’t before, and finally headed back to the United States. By the way, it was sunny on the day I caught my flight out of Paris!

Back in Vegas, I’ve been catching up on life and news. What is the deal with Charlie Sheen, everyone? I’m finding some of his videos and tweets pretty funny, and most other people seem to be entertained too. The “tiger blood” saying is funny, and I obviously like “winning!” 🙂

Speaking of winning, I’m SO ready for spring! One of the first places I went when I got back to Vegas was to Red Rock Canyon for some hiking. I enjoyed it so much that I’m going to hike about three times each week. I’m also in the mood for more outdoor activities, so I’m going to start thinking about other possibilities for exercising and clearing my mind in the spring months. Mostly, I’m feeling a happiness and calm these days. I believe some changes in my life are in order that will lead to a very positive year, and I’m starting to put those things in motion. It could get interesting! But it’s definitely going to be “winning!”

My whirlwind fall poker tour started with my trip to London, and it was nice to be back there to see friends. The weather was a big change from the heat of Vegas, but it was somewhat refreshing. The toughest part was that it was the first time I’d been so far away from Jace, but he’s being taken care of by a couple I’ve hired to be a full time live in pet-sitter while I’m gone, so he could get round-the-clock love and care. And I’m getting almost daily photos of him to make sure he’s okay. Yes, I obviously really miss him!

Sometimes, the poker tournament circuit takes me to amazing places. Cannes is one of them. The beach city in the South of France is just breathtaking! I was here last year and took some time to be a tourist and see the city, and though I got out a little this year, I was busy with work and trying to get in the right mindset for the Partouche Poker Tour stop here. But I’ve been jet lagged for more than a week and haven’t been able to get over it, so sleeping each night (or morning!) has been a bit of a problem.

I played Day 1B, and the fields were pretty massive. There were over 750 people in the tournament altogether! I sat down at my first table with some well-known players like Jean-Robert Bellande and Antony Lellouche. Things started out well, as I took down several good-sized pots during the first level. In one of them, I had pocket nines, and they held up on a board of K-K-7-6-3 when my opponent in Seat 3 with A-8 kept betting, and I just smooth called all the way through. Took some small pots too and ended Level 1 with more than 40K.

(photo courtesy of Jean-Robert Bellande)

Things leveled out from there, and I just maintained my stack over the next few levels, increasing in little spurts. We took a dinner break for 90 minutes, which was a good amount of time to enjoy an amazing French dinner overlooking the sea. Beautiful! I came back to the tables refreshed, but I couldn’t get much going. By the end of Level 5, I still had 42K, which is still plenty of chips to work with. However, in Level 6, it all fell apart. I had pocket sevens under the gun and raised 1K. I only got a call from the small blind, and the flop came 8-7-5. A set for me! The action on the flop started with the small blind checking, I bet 1500, small blind raise 4k, I re-raised another 10k, small blind re-raises but didn’t put in enough chips so the dealer had to stop the action and call the floor over to make a ruling which took about 5 mins, at this point I was already pot committed so I didn’t have to think much with my decision, I pushed all-in, and my opponent called. The pot was big – about 100K, but he turned over pocket eights for the higher set. The turn and river were blanks, and I was out.

(photo courtesy of Hugues ‘Def’ Fournaise)

Funny thing (not really) about busting from a tournament. It doesn’t matter where you are, even somewhere as amazing as Cannes; a bustout with set over set hurts just as bad as anywhere else. Ouch.

So much for the Partouche Poker Tour! I plan on staying here and try to enjoy Cannes for a few more days, then back to London again for the WSOPE tournament.

It’s that time again, time for me to get on the road. Technically, in the air, but you know what I mean. 😉

I have made my travel plans for the next few months, and all I can really say is that I’ll be in Europe. Why no specifics right now? Well, I’m not giving exact dates or exact locations because there are people who care a little too much about what I’m doing. Sorry stalkers! You’ll have to do some guessing on this one! LOL.

The only thing I can be specific about is theChilipoker DeepStack Open, which I already mentioned in my blog. I wouldn’t miss it! It is scheduled for April 9-11 in France at the Pasino Aix-en-Provence, and the €550 Main Event looks to be a massive one. And there are two side events running as well, both freezeouts, one on April 10 with a €300 buy-in and the other on April 11 with a €150 buy-in. I probably won’t play the side events because I’ll be doing so well in the Main Event, of course! 😉 But there’s plenty of poker to be played at the Aix-en-Provence that weekend, so come join me!

Don’t forget that qualifiers are running now at Chilipoker for seats into the Main Event, and players are winning seats for as little as €1.1 through March 31. In order to help spice up the tournament, Chilipoker has launched two new concepts for all the Chilipoker qualified players and for those registering to the Main Event via their Chilipoker account:

· Extra-Ball: You’ve kicked everybody out of the tournament and you are our final lucky winner? Chilipoker rewards you even more by adding 50% of your winnings to the prizepool: the first half is yours and the rest will be shared between all the Chilipoker qualified players of the Main Event! This is what we call the Chilipoker Spirit!

· Knock-Out Insurance: You’ve busted out of the tournament, finished with no money but kicked at least 5 players out? Don’t be disappointed, Chilipoker wants to reward you for your action on the tables! We invite you to another Chilipoker DeepStack Open stage and will pay for your buy-in to the Main Event!

There are other events going on over the next few months, and I plan to do some appearances for Chilipoker as well as take care of some business meetings. But I’m also really looking forward to the change of scenery! I’m so excited to get back and enjoy my next few months with coworkers and friends, and immerse myself in the culture before coming back to the States for the 2010 WSOP.

This is very exciting news! I made mention of a trip to France in April, and this is what it’s all about. The Chilipoker DeepStack Open by Partouche will be taking place at the Pasino of Aix-en-Provence from April 9-11. Everyone is welcome to join, and the Main Event looks to bring players from all over the world with its €550 buy-in (and starting stack of 50,000 chips!).

I love the deep stack tournaments because the massive number of chips allows you to really build up momentum and take your time in the beginning stages of the tournament. It takes a little while to size up your opponents, get the feel of the action, and put your strategy into action. And having so many chips allows you to take a bad beat or two but still have a solid chance of playing on. When Chilipoker announced a DeepStack series, especially one that will take us to places like France, Ireland, Morocco, and the Czech Republic, I was thrilled!

The French stop on the Chilipoker DeepStack Open tour is open to all players. And for those looking to qualify, there are tons of opportunities on ChiliPoker.com, as online satellites will run through March 31st. There will also be live satellites running at Partouche Pasinos. Everyone has a chance to meet me there! But there’s no time to waste, as the tournament is capped at 500 players, so space is limited.

I seriously cannot wait to head to the Provence region of France in April, which should be a beautiful time of year there! Representing Chilipoker is a treat all the time, but when I get to spend time playing poker tournaments in places like the South of France, and in an event with such a great structure, I have to let everyone in on the opportunity to join me. Let me know if and when you win your seat, and I’ll see you in less than 2 months! 😀

I spent the last two days just chilling at home, recuperating from the long weekend of partying with my friends. Play time’s over, now its back to business again.

I’ve got a couple of shout outs that I would like to share with everyone, it’s all good! Just around the corner in November, CardPlayer Bulgaria’s third issue is expected to hit news stands and casinos and I’m delighted to be gracing the cover of their November issue. So my poker friends and fans in Bulgaria, keep an eye out for it. A big thanks and best wishes to you all!

12-05-2008 – A documentary film entitled “IN THE RED ZONE”
Director Jean-Marie NIZAN along with LABEL-IMAGE a TV production company based in Paris, France will be traveling to Las Vegas to conduct an exclusive interview with me to talk with them about my passion with cards and the relationships between Cinema and Poker.

The film focuses on 3 domains where characters gamble with their lives on-screen: the boxer in the ring, the player at the card table, and the driver on the asphalt track.

Red like the boxer’s blood. Red like the ace of diamonds. Red like the rev counter’s danger zone.

Three territories, three locations, three sets of rules to define three genres. Working from these archetypes, the directors bring their talent into play, using and purposely transgressing conventional practices.

In his look back at boxing, gambling and automobiles, the documentary’s director Jean-Marie NIZAN reviews some of the greatest moments in cinema over the last forty years: The Cincinnati Kid, Raging Bull, The Sting, Grand-Prix, Rocky, Bobby Deerfield, Casino, Million Dollar Baby, to name just a few …

Wanting to “cross” interviews of cinema people (directors and actors) who already have approach the genre and poker players, car racers and boxers.

Combining three different sports, all having one thing in common – Lives constantly living on the edge! Definitely very interesting and I’m pleased to have been approached and asked to participate in this film!